News & Events

Monday, December 16, 2013

InterLibrary Loan Update

Due to the library’s closure and the move to the new building, any Interlibrary Loan requests submitted after December 19, 2013 will not be processed until after January 2, 2014. Normal Interlibrary Loan services are scheduled to resume on January 3, 2014. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to serving you in 2014.

Upcoming Library Workshops

Come out to one of our many library workshops this spring and learn about a variety of topics - from "Finding Scholarly Articles" to "Becoming a Google Power Searcher."

Each semester the library hosts a series of workshops where students can learn about a variety of topics that will enhance their ability to conduct effective research, such as using research citation methods (APA, MLA, etc.). All workshops are in the Active Learning Classroom in the Jerry Falwell Library, Room 171. They are Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

Upcoming Workshops:

Citing: Library Tools and Writing Center Rules

Tuesday, Apr. 22, at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Apr. 23, at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Publishing Your Research*

Friday, Apr. 25, at 5:00 p.m.

Shortcuts to Content: Finding and Using Free and Accessible Resources to Supplement Your Class Materials

Library Move Updates

UPDATED (Monday, July 1, 2013)

Due to scheduled construction and the demands of loading our print collection into bins for placement in the Robotic System, the Quiet Study Zone on the first floor has been closed. Quiet study space is still available on the third floor.

The Assistive Learning Center will be moving to one end of the 1st floor Quiet Zone by the end of July

Wednesday, April 17, the ILRC Guillermin Library took a big step toward moving the library’s resources into the new facility currently under construction. The first book was officially placed into a bin bound for the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) housed in the basement of the soon-to-be Jerry Falwell Library. Marking the event with a small ceremony, the library staff showed their support for the efforts of Lowell Walters and his crew of workers. Rachel Schwedt, Head of Communication and Customer Services, opened the ceremony with comments in appreciation of their efforts and Mr. Walters, Associate Dean of Administration and Collection Services, offered a brief report on the preparation and pre-loading efforts thus far.

“Today is the marking of the beginning of the move,” Mr. Walters stated as he recapped on the early efforts of preparation which started almost a year ago. Many employees will be involved in the bin loading effort. Abigail Sattler, Lonnie Kitchens and Anne Zimmermann will be the lead coordinators in the day-to-day effort of the project. Library software support and metadata systems are handled by Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services Tom Fesmire, System Administrator Buddy Shearer, and Cataloging Assistant Angela Thompson. Rusty and his team of collection development librarians will be using a bibliography created by Greg Smith to pull the oldest and least circulated items.

Many student workers have participated in early preparation efforts which included placing locator numbers on the text block of each item. Three student workers were among those gathered for the inaugural bin: Jessica Reveley who recently joined the team, and Esther Stine and Trevor Brigg who were among the first group to contribute their efforts to the first phase of preparation last year.

“It was part of the Administration team’s earliest discussions to consider the ASRS as a means to help keep the cost of education down,” explained Mr. Walters. From the earliest discussions regarding the new library, a focus of the ILRC Administration has been one of financial stewardship. “We understood that whatever costs were associated with the new library, those costs would or could be passed to the student. It is in support of Liberty University’s mission that students not be burdened by large loans for their education. To do our part, to keep the costs down for the many years to come, it proved far less expensive, to put in the ASRS (only 1/7th to 1/9th of the overall square footage cost). The system also will allow room for growth of the collection for years to come.
Mr. Walters closed his remarks with a prayer over the continued efforts of the move, for safety and timing, and the momentous loading of the first bin to go to the ASRS. Several library faculty, staff and students participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony. Refreshments were enjoyed afterwards in the Technical Services suite.

Librarians Present at National Conference

Last week, two of our own Librarians, Lori Sny­der and Erin Crane, recent­ly presented at a conference titled, “Comput­ers in Libraries”, hosted by the organization, “Information Today.” The conference was held in Washington, D.C., April 8-10, 2013.

Encouraged by Dean Pride, Erin submitted a pro­posal to present on the topic of patron-driven ac­quisitions (PDA) and asked Lori to co-present. Lori had previously presented a poster session dealing with the acquisition and cataloguing of PDAs at a conference hosted by The Association of Christian Librarians.

Prior to the conference Erin and Lori gave their PowerPoint presentation at a brown-bag luncheon for members of the library as an informational effort and as practice for the upcoming conference. The feedback and suggestions from those in atten­dance at the luncheon helped to improve the presen­tation before going to the conference. Both Lori and Erin also mentioned that having a teammate helped in preparing for and presenting at the conference.

During the 30 minute presentation Erin spoke from a collection development perspective be­fore Lori spoke regarding cataloguing and acqui­sitions. Approximately 150 were in attendance and many people came up after the presentation to talk further about the topic. Lori mentioned another benefit of presenting at a conference is that you make contacts which serve as resources for fu­ture situations. It also gives you an outside perspec­tive to see how much we are “already doing here” at Liberty and to “learn new ideas” to apply here at Liberty University.
Going forward Erin commented that, “Liberty has a lot that they’re doing that we could share about” to be a help other organizations. Regarding what we at Liberty University could share at confer­ences Lori added, “Think about what you’re doing day to day, that other people might have an interest in learning about”.

Does presenting at a conference sound interesting to you? Think about it. We not only get to promote our work, but most importantly our “best friend.”

So You Think You're Well-Read?

Have you seen the new display in the big cabinet on the first floor library which poses the question “So you think you’re well read”? Come have a look at some books from our collection that recommend outstanding works in the classics, literature, religion and politics. The display features “Booked” by LU’s own Dr. Karen Prior. There is a handout available for each book with all the titles recommended and their respective call numbers. See how many you’ve read, find one that you haven’t and check it out! If we don’t have it in our collection, Interlibrary Loan can get it for you.

Get the whole list directly here or on your phone by scanning this QR code:

Using Google Scholar: A Hands-On Workshop

Randy Miller, Graduate Research Assistance Librarian, will be conducting a “hands-on” workshop with Google Scholar on Friday, April 19 from 3 – 4 pm. The workshop will be conducted in a computer lab (DH 3336) where each participant will practice maximizing this powerful research tool. You will learn how to find books and articles (including open access materials), link to Liberty’s subscription databases, and trace authors and their research and see who has cited earlier research. This session is open to faculty, staff, and students. Google Scholar – as simple to use as Google, with results from the scholarly sources your professor requires. If you have any questions, write research@liberty.edu.

Research with ProQuest

Beth Reiten, a trainer with ProQuest, will be conducting training on the updated ProQuest research platform for finding journal articles and other resources on Thursday, April 11 from 2 – 3 pm. The training will be held in the CTE training room, DH 3031. This session is open to faculty, staff, and students and will help you search, find, use and share resources found in ProQuest databases, including ProQuest Central. If you have any questions, write research@liberty.edu.

Selected Resources for Black History Month

In celebration of Black History Month, the Library invites you to visit these specially selected resources.

American Mosaic: The African American Experience
Developed with the guidance of African American librarians and subject specialists, The African American Experience has the widest depth and breadth of information available of any online database collection on African American history and culture.

Music Online: African American Music Reference
African American Music Reference brings together 50,000 pages of text reference, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies which chronicle the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music. The database is constantly expanding to include comprehensive coverage of blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression.

Oxford African American Studies Center
The Oxford African American Studies Center combines the authority of carefully edited reference works with sophisticated technology to create the most comprehensive collection of scholarship available online to focus on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture.

Black Short Fiction and Folklore
Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora is the most comprehensive collection yet created of stories from Africa and the African Diaspora, offering short stories and folktales, ranging thematically from oral traditions that date back many hundreds of years to contemporary tales of modern life. In addition to these works, the database includes complete runs of selected literary magazines, such as Kyk-Over-Al and The Beacon. Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African Diaspora features over 11,707 short stories and more than 82,061 pages.

Changes in Periodicals

Periodicals compact shelving will be closed M-F 8:30-10:30 am and 2-4 pm to allow the periodicals staff to complete work in preparation for the move to the Jerry Falwell Library. No access will be allowed during this time. Should you need articles from journals found in the compact shelving during these times, please check to see if the article that is needed is available online or if an alternative online article may be acceptable. If you need assistance please see the staff at the Customer Service Center or the Periodicals Desk.

Our carrier for our newspaper subscriptions recently ceased delivery on short notice. We are currently working out other alternatives for receiving the newspapers. At this point, most newspapers should be coming to us via US mail, but not all have yet begun to arrive regularly.

New Arrivals in the Library

See the pdf's below for items (books, videos, cd's, etc.) recently made available. These lists are in call number order with the location listed just above the call number. If it is a web resource, e-book, or electronic resource you will find a link to the item in the LUCAS catalog. Past lists may be found here.

New Bible Commentary eBooks!

The ILRC is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of ebook content (including several commentaries) from Baker Academic. Baker Academic ebooks have previously been unavailable to academic libraries, but they have recently started adding content to one of our ebook platforms, ebrary.

ERIC Item Availability

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) has made many of their documents temporarily unavailable due to privacy concerns. Please consider using Education Research Complete, ProQuest Education, or ERIC’s full-text journal articles until access is restored. If you do need a particular ERIC document, you can attempt to order it via InterLibrary Loan (ILLiad) until availability is restored.

Library Resource Changes (Updated 9/28)

Oxford Reference Premium

The Oxford Reference Premium product has changed its design. A description of the new content can be found here. A quick start searching guide is here.

It’s quite a change from what it was before, so if you’re used to using it, it’s worth checking out to see the new look. If you weren’t aware of our e-book reference collection, here’s a good chance to start learning a bit about what we have to offer.

As always if you need assistance, please visit the Customer Service Center on the first floor.

Something New is Here...

...A Better Way to Serve You.

Anyone walking through the first floor of the Integrated Learning Resource Center will notice major changes taking place. Gone are the large Circulation Service Desk and the Research Help Desk. In the place of these two areas, a new service location has emerged consolidating circulation, research help, and basic computer guidance into one central Customer Service Center. Also new, is an enlarged area of shelving to used to display new books recently added to the collection.

A second major shift is the integration of reference materials into the main book collection. These items are still available for “in house use,” but are now more visible to those browsing in their chosen subject area. The former reference shelves have been replaced with an open entrance area, cubicles for individual study, and new casual seating.

If you see people working in the book stacks and in the study carrel section at the back of the library, they are making space for the large number of new titles being purchased this year and are preparing the collection for future placement on the bookshelves or into the Automated Storage and Retrieval System in the new library. This activity will be on-going throughout the next school year. We apologize for any inconvenience this activity may cause and look forward to serving you better.

2012 Senior Class Donation

The Senior class of 2012 raised and donated $15,000 to go towards the construction of the Jerry Falwell Library. As a result of their contribution to the Jerry Falwell Library Campaign, a special area will be named after the Class of 2012. To read more about this donation and to find how to donate, click here.